Originally Posted by Financial Times
As the UK’s Brexit vote sparks widespread global dismay, some lawmakers and businesspeople in India are seeing the upside of their former colonial power’s decision.
Indian policymakers believe New Delhi could quickly negotiate a new trade agreement with a Britain disentangled from the EU, which has failed to conclude talks on a trade deal with India.
“The UK is going to look to build its relationships with the rest of the world, and will seek to pursue new opportunities with us,” Jayant Sinha, India’s deputy finance minister, told the Financial Times.
Talks on an India-EU trade deal began nearly a decade ago but quickly stalled. Swapan Dasgupta, an independent member of parliament close to the ruling Bharatiya Janata party, said concluding an India-UK trade deal would be far easier.
“If an FTA [free-trade agreement] negotiating unit is 25 constituent countries with their own pluses and minuses, you are not going to get to some sort of common ground where the losses balance the gains,” he said. “But there is a far greater chance of it with the UK. We understand each other, and there is very little clash in what we want.”
BK Goenka, chairman of Welspun Group, a textile and pipe manufacturer with revenues of about $3bn a year, agreed that Brexit would open new opportunities. “For us, I think it will be better,” he told the Financial Times. “Tariffs on both sides will come down. It’s a win-win scenario for both our countries.”
Mr Goenka said he would seek to take advantage of the relatively weak pound to acquire UK textile brands and distribution companies. “This is the time to invest in the UK,” he said.